Giving A Student Choices Within A Learning Environment

In a fast paced world bursting with distractions, children and adolescents do not always want to go to school. When working with uninterested children, strategies can be used to involve children in their schoolwork and assist them in succeeding; such as giving them the power of choice, ensuring each child feels accepted and linking academics with real life. Giving a student choices within a learning environment allows them to feel in control of their life as well as granting them a sense of purpose and competence. Learning in which choices are incorporated for the child to make by themselves allows them to invest in quality work that is of interest. Feeling accepted is an important factor in development, especially for a child in school.†¦show more content†¦Giving a child choice allows them to understand that they have some sort of control over their own lives which could help their future problem solving abilities and self-confidence. â€Å"People who believe they have co ntrol tend to be more motivated than individuals who feel as if outside forces are compelling them.† (Perks, 2010) If a child were to be defiant when reading a required book for a report, the teacher should pick out three to five books and permit the child to decide what they would enjoy reading. In this case, the teacher is still putting guidelines in place by selecting the initial books, but the child still gets a say in what they are reading. The child may feel more independent in making their own selections in the future. Giving youth alternatives provides them with an â€Å"opportunity to find and develop unaccessed or unknown voices and skills.† (Block, 2014) Granting youth options may add significance to the activity, therefore engaging the child in their schoolwork in a way that makes it pleasurable. When being authorized to make choices in one’s life, people tend to perceive that their opinions matter, thus empowering them to succeed. Lastly, permitting a child to choose between things allows them to understand their level of development as well as feel competent and confident in what they are doing. If an English student is doing an essay